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My attempts to 'paint well' eluded me for about eight years of consistent practice but eventually after many thousands of hours of painting I began to achieve my goal.

 

To that end my work has been fortunate to have had the recognition of various art societies; 

 

London's Royal Academy of Art selected my paintings in six of its summer shows. I've also exhibited with the RP, ROI, RBA, NEAC and RWA. 

 

In 2009 the Company of Painter Stainers presented my work, 'Natural Philosophy', with two awards - the first to receive a double prize in the award's history.

 

In 2013, the RBA gave its Arts Trust Award for my painting titled 'Insight'.

 

What sort of Art do I like? Impressionism, Post Impressionism and Surrealism all made important contributions.

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However, the paintings that interest me the most were made during the Italian and Flemish Renaissance, often called the 'Northern Renaissance'.

 

What's special about their work? Artists of their period painted with increasing faithfulness to the way that natural forms appear to the eye, not an easy task.

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Caravaggio, Van Eyck, Memling, Leonardo, and Giorgione are some of my favourites.

The incredible naturalism that these painters achieved was not an end in itself, but a means of bringing their narrative work 'to life'. 

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Surpassing mere re-presentation of visual forms, these artists imbue their paintings with a palpable sense of sublimity and conviction. 

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Whether the work was a religious or a secular one, there's a genuine gravity about them.

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Caravaggio's 'Supper at Emmaus', is a good example of the former, and Leonardo's 'La Giocanda' is a good example of the latter.

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If you've read this far then you may like to know how and why I taught myself to paint.

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As mentioned I always liked to draw and when I was 14 I began to draw seriously. I'd draw my reflection, my family, passersby or landscapes and I'd make copies of Old Master portraits.

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After a couple of years I could draw well and I decided to try oil painting. I wanted to paint well, but I didn't know how to.

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Around this time I visited Cardiff Museum and saw a 17th Century Dutch interior. Its realism and competence impressed me.

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I wondered about who created it, three centuries ago, and why I rarely saw contemporary artists using similar skills. 

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After leaving school I visited universities, looking to find an answer from those with academic credentials. 

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I met some nice people, but they didn't appear to know the answers to my questions about draftsmanship, technique and composition. Some didn't care.

 

The modern university system approaches such matters as antiquated concerns, that have been somehow "transcended" at the dawn of the 20th century and can therefore be overlooked.

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I talked with students and saw their work. Although many of them wished to learn technique, they informed me that it wasn't taught. Theory alone reigned supreme. 

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As a result they could talk about art but they lacked the skills to fully realise their aesthetic intentions. This was often a bitter disappointment to them which they expressed to me privately.

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I thought that this was probably an oversight, however, as I visited other universities, some of the best in the country, I discovered the same situation. 

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To my mind the work of the Old Masters is forever astonishing and relevant to our time. One has only to visit the Louvre or the National Gallery in London and witness the expressions of amazement on people's faces.

 

Both young and old stand spellbound before the paintings on display. They even speak in hushed voices with one another as though they were in a cathedral. This isn't hyperbole, I've seen it time and again.

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To receive a degree in fine art and yet leave a long course of education unable to paint, that is to paint realistically what I see with my eyes, would be a grave folly indeed.

 

I thought my options over carefully and concluded that with regard to university and its proclivity for theory over practice, that I could develop theory later on as the counterpart of practice through working, reading and reflection.

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So I decided that, from my observations, university wouldn't provide what I sought, and so I set out instead to teach myself.

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Working many day jobs to pay the bills and the rent on a cold water flat, while trying to rediscover the methods of the Old Masters in my spare time, was a difficult challenge.

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However, my future wife stood by me, figuratively speaking, as I painted through the nights, weekends and early hours of the mornings in an effort to 'paint well'.

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'Synthetic Portent' at the Royal Academy of Arts' London 2008 summer exhibition.

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​I learned slowly through trial, abundant error and thousands of hours of determined practice. Eventually I felt that I may have reached my objective in 2007.

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I applied with the above painting to the Royal Academy in London to see if they would like to exhibit it.

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To my surprise I received an acceptance letter and an invitation. I was so happy that I literally danced around for joy. My approach to art was vindicated.

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'Synthetic Portent' went on display in the Academy's 2008 Summer Exhibition and sold for £7,000. After the Academy retained its commission I had just enough left to finance my next project.

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To my surprise the former director of painting at the Royal Academy, Mick Rooney, wrote a letter to me calling the painting a "little masterpiece".  

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Later that year he invited me to make a work measuring four by five feet for the 2009 RA summer exhibition, featuring a similar subject; 'magic'. This project was a welcome challenge for a self taught 24 year old. I wasn't certain whether I would succeed.

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However, after five and a half months, of working 70 hour weeks, I finished the painting (detail below), which is now in the private collection of a prominent collector.

 

 

 

 

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Second Sight (detail) Exhibited at the Royal Academy's summer exhibition 2009

 

The Academy made postcard reproductions of the work in 2009 and highlighted the piece to visitors with a large written notice hung high on the wall stating that Second Sight was a 'meditation on impermanence'.

 

Following this I exhibited at Mall Galleries, received some prizes and exhibited regularly at commercial galleries.

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Twenty eight years have passed since I began my artistic practice, and I've exhibited for eighteen of those. It's been a good and interesting time.

I hope you enjoy viewing my work.

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